Big 12's talent decline - and solution - can be traced to UT

Texas Tech quarterback Patrick Mahomes, second from left, was the only Big 12 player selected in the first round of last week's NFL draft.

Texas Tech quarterback Patrick Mahomes, second from left, was the...

When NFL commissioner Roger Goodell let the nation know that Texas A&M's Myles Garrett was the No. 1 overall selection in the NFL draft a week ago, Garrett was only 35 miles from the Big 12 Conference office.

Garrett chose to watch the draft in his hometown of Arlington - a conversation away from the Big 12's base in Irving. In its ideal world, the league would have celebrated a top overall choice. Or another two top-six selections within commuting distance of their headquarters - Solomon Thomas of Coppell (and Stanford) to the San Francisco 49ers at No. 3 and Jamal Adams of Hebron (and LSU) to the New York Jets at No. 6.

With A&M, Colorado, Missouri and Nebraska having long left for greener pastures, the Big 12's current 10-school membership produced one first-round selection - Texas Tech quarterback Patrick Mahomes at No. 10 overall.

"The Big 12 should be grateful," quipped an Oklahoma City columnist. "Mahomes saved the conference from extreme embarrassment."

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The Big 12 instead was subjected to less-extreme embarrassment. The misnamed league (it has 10 members and has not had a dozen football teams since 2010) had only 14 of its players selected over the draft's seven rounds - the fewest number since the Big 12 formed in 1996.

Flagships in decline

Nebraska and Colorado exited the Big 12 in 2011, and A&M and Missouri followed a year later. The league replaced the four schools with two - TCU and West Virginia. But the primary reason for the Big 12's draft shortage has little to do with the four departures - although Nebraska once was a national power - and more to do with the dwindling of top pro stock at league flagships Texas and Oklahoma.

Texas, the last Big 12 school to win a national title (2005 season) or play for a national title (2009 season) had only one player drafted for a second consecutive season - running back D'Onta Foreman, who went to the Texans in the third round.

Oklahoma produced four of the conference's 14 picks - running back Joe Mixon in the second round, wide receiver Dede Westbrook and running back Samaje Perine in the fourth round, and linebacker Jordan Evans in the sixth round.

Considering the Sooners accounted for nearly 30 percent of the Big 12's draft selections, they have done a lot to represent the Big 12 at the next level. But the Longhorns have fallen woefully short, and new coach Tom Herman vowed to get UT players back in the mix on the national scene - from recruiting out of high school to drafting into the NFL.

"We have to make sure three out the top six players in the state don't leave the state again," Herman said in referencing the high school class of 2017. "That has to be our mission: to keep the best players in the state of Texas in the state of Texas."

In 2016, 32 players from Texas high schools went in the NFL draft - 17 of whom played in college in the Big 12. This year, 23 players from Texas high schools were drafted - seven of whom played in the Big 12.

It starts with recruiting

Texas hired Herman from the University of Houston to replace Charlie Strong, who had three consecutive losing seasons with the Longhorns before he was fired in late November. Herman realizes solid recruiting often leads to competing for conference championships and more players having the chance to play at the next level.

"This (high school) class of 2018 coming up, since they were 10 years old they've witnessed (three) winning seasons of Texas football," Herman said. "The Texas they know is much different than the Texas we know. We have to show them what Texas is capable of."

Each of the Big 12 schools in the state - Baylor, TCU, Texas and Texas Tech - had a player taken in the NFL draft last week or a combined one less player than A&M (five) and the same number as Colorado (four).

If A&M, Nebraska Colorado and Missouri still were a part of the Big 12 (and subtracting the three combined selections of West Virginia and TCU), the conference would have had 22 draft picks this year. In other words, the four departed schools' 11 selections matched the 11 of the eight schools they left behind.

The Big 12's previous low was 17 three years ago, and the conference had 26 picks a year ago.

The 14-member Southeastern Conference led the nation in the number of NFL draft picks for an 11th consecutive season with 53. Twenty-one of those players went in the first two rounds.

The SEC opened and closed the draft, with Garrett going No. 1 and Mississippi quarterback Chad Kelly being taken No. 253 as the final selection of the seventh round. The Big 12 was even surpassed by the American Athletic Conference, a non-Power Five league that had 15 total picks, including three from Houston.

Herman vows action

Herman knows the responsibility for getting the Big 12 back into a position of prominence in recruiting and in drafting players into the NFL lies in large part with Texas, and he promised the Longhorns are ready to make a move:

"We're going to get it back to where it belongs really, really quick," he said.